Systems and methods for determining playback points in media assets

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are described for determining playback points in media assets based on both a keyword and a context of a current playback point in a media asset. For example, in response to user input of a keyword (e.g., “Matt Damon”) while the user is consuming a media asset, a current playback point in the media asset is determined. Context of the media asset at the current playback point is then determined (e.g., the current playback point involves a car chase). Playback points in the media asset are determined that match both the context and the keyword and are presented to the user (e.g., playback points with Matt Damon in a car chase).

BACKGROUND

Given the plethora of media content available to consumers, manyconsumers may desire to watch only portions of media content that areinteresting to them. For example, a user may enjoy scenes with aparticular actor, such as Tom Cruise. Conventional systems may identifyplayback points where the particular actor (e.g., Tom Cruise) appears ina media asset and present the playback points to the user. Theconventional systems may allow the user to skip to one of the playbackpoints where the particular actor appears and play the media asset fromthat point. However, in many cases the number of playback points may beoverwhelming to the user. For example, Tom Cruise may appear in the vastmajority of a particular media asset and thus the user may have troublechoosing a playback point that he or she is interested in.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, systems and methods are presented herein for determiningplayback points in media assets based on both a keyword and a context ofa current playback point in a media asset. For example, while consuminga media asset, a user may input a keyword (e.g., the text “Tom Cruise”).In response to the user input of the keyword, a current playback pointin the media asset is determined and context of the media asset at thecurrent playback point is determined (e.g., the current playback pointinvolves a car chase). Playback points are determined that match boththe context and the keyword and are presented to the user (e.g.,playback points with Tom Cruise in a car chase).

In some aspects, a media guidance application may generate for display amedia asset. For example, the media guidance application may generatefor display the movie, “Edge of Tomorrow” on a display screen (e.g., ofa tablet or television). In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may generate a media asset for display in response toreceiving a user selection of the media asset (e.g., via a user inputinterface such as a touch screen).

The media guidance application may receive, while generating for displaythe media asset, a keyword from a user. For example, the media guidanceapplication may receive text, graphics, or a combination that identifyat least one characteristic of the media asset. The characteristic maybe any metadata relating to the media asset, such as a person associatedwith the media asset (e.g., actor, director, producer, etc.) and/or anidentifier of the action (e.g., “car chase,”), and/or an identifier of alocation (e.g., “Paris”). In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display a field for text input of thekeyword. For example, using a remote control, the user may input astring of characters (e.g., “Tom Cruise”) which the media guidanceapplication receives as the keyword. In some embodiments, the mediaguidance application may generate for display suggested and/or popularsearch terms in response to a user request to perform a search whileconsuming the media asset. For example, the user may select a “search”button on a remote control and indicators containing graphics (e.g., apicture of Tom Cruise) and/or text for keywords may be generated fordisplay. The media guidance application may receive a user selection ofone of the indicators and determine the keyword based on the selection.

In some embodiments, the indicators are generated either as an overlayof the media asset or in a separate section of the display from themedia asset. For example, the media guidance application may generateindicators of keywords for the user to select on the right side of adisplay screen and the media asset on the left side. Alternatively oradditionally, the media guidance application may overlay the keywords onthe media asset. The media guidance application may generate for displaytranslucent indicators to allow a user to view the media asset. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may dynamically update theindicators based on the current playback point in the media asset. Forexample, in scenes with Tom Cruise, different keywords may be morecommonly selected than scenes with Emily Blunt so some or all indicatorsmay be swapped depending on which actor is in the media asset at thecurrent playback point.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay a plurality of indicators for attributes of the media asset. Forexample, the media guidance application may generate a series ofgraphics associated with attributes of the media asset. As a specificexample, one graphic may include a headshot of the actor Emily Blunt andanother graphic may include a picture of the Eiffel Tower (e.g.,representing Paris) as both Emily Blunt and Paris are attributes of themedia asset currently being generated for display. The media guidanceapplication may generate uniformly shaped indicators (e.g., circles ofthe same size) or vary the shapes and sizes of the indicators based onthe properties of the graphics. For example, in order to avoiddistortion, the media guidance application may generate graphics in thesame aspect ratio as their source files. Alternatively or additionally,the media guidance application may generate indicators of differentsizes based on the popularity of the associated attribute. For example,the media guidance application may access a database and determine thatusers have searched for Tom Cruise one million more times than EmilyBlunt. The media guidance application may accordingly generate fordisplay a larger indicator with a headshot of Tom Cruise than one ofEmily Blunt.

The media guidance application may receive a user input from the userselecting a first indicator associated with a first attribute. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive a user input (e.g.,via a user input interface such as a touch screen on a tablet) of aparticular indicator. As a specific example, the media guidanceapplication may receive a user input selecting a graphic with a headshotof Tom Cruise. The media guidance application may, in response toreceiving the user input selecting the first indicator, determine thatthe first attribute is the keyword. For example, upon determining thatthe user has selected an indicator with a headshot of Tom Cruise, themedia guidance application may determine that “Tom Cruise,” theattribute associated with the indicator, is the keyword that the userdesires to search for.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generateindicators for categories of attributes associated with the media asset.After receiving a selection of a category of attributes, the mediaguidance application may generate indicators associated with thecategory, which may allow for more efficient use of display space indisplay constrained environments. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may, in response to receiving the keyword from the user,compare attributes of the keyword with attributes of each of a pluralityof keywords related to the media asset. For example, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display indicators for general categoriesof attributes associated with the media asset, such as “actors,”“locations,” and/or “scene type.” The general category indicators may befor any keyword that has associated sub-keywords associated with themedia asset. For example, “Tom Cruise” may be associated with “TomCruise running,” “Tom Cruise fighting,” “Tom Cruise sleeping,” etc. andthus constitutes a general category. The media guidance application maydetermine to generate indicators for categories if there is a largenumber of attributes that could not fit on the display without obscuringthe media asset. Upon receiving a selection from the user of aparticular keyword (e.g., such as the category actor), the mediaguidance application may compare each attribute associated with themedia asset to the selected keyword. For example, upon selection of anindicator that corresponds to an “actor” category, the media guidanceapplication may, via character comparison with attributes of the mediaasset, determine which attributes are actors. The media guidanceapplication may determine a subset of the plurality of keywords thathave an attribute that matches an attribute of the keyword. For example,the media guidance application may determine that there are five actorsassociated with the media asset “Edge of Tomorrow.” Specifically, themedia guidance application may determine the subset based on retrievingattributes, either locally or from a remote server, and comparingmetadata associated with the attributes with the keyword.

The media guidance application may generate for display the subset ofthe plurality of keywords. As one example, the media guidanceapplication may generate indicators overlaid or in a separate section ofthe same display on which the media asset is also being generated fordisplayed. After receiving the selection of the keyword and determiningthe subset of related keywords, the media guidance application maygenerate for display new indicators with the subset of the plurality ofkeywords instead of the keywords (e.g., for the categories) that wereinitially generated. As a specific example, indicators for “actor” and“location” may be replaced by specific actors (e.g., Tom Cruise andEmily Blunt) after a selection of “actor.” Alternatively oradditionally, the selected indicator may continue to be generated fordisplay and the subset of the plurality of keywords may be generated fordisplay radially around the selected keyword. In this example, the mediaguidance application may cease generating for display unselectedkeywords. Upon receiving a selection of one of the plurality ofkeywords, the media guidance application may determine the keyword thatthe user desires to search for in the media asset. In this way, themedia guidance application may provide the user with more specifickeywords via categories to better target specific playback points theuser is interested in, while also conserving display space.

The media guidance application, in response to receiving the keywordfrom the user may determine a context in the media asset being generatedfor display. Specifically, the media guidance application may determinea current playback point in the media asset. For example, the mediaguidance application may retrieve a time code (e.g., “00:30:00:00”, inthe format hours: minutes: seconds: frames) corresponding to the currentplayback point in the media asset (e.g., 30 minutes into the mediaasset). The media guidance application may retrieve the time code from atime code signal in the media asset containing a set of binary codeddecimal values referring to the present playback position in the mediaasset. For example, the media guidance application may determine that aparticular signal or header in a data packet contains binary codeddecimal values and retrieve those values. The media guidance applicationconverts each binary coded decimal value to a corresponding decimalvalue corresponding to the time code. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that four particular bits relating to onevalue in the time code are “1001” which may correspond to the value “9”in the time code.

The media guidance application may retrieve metadata associated with thecurrent playback point. For example, the media guidance application mayretrieve metadata associated with the current playback point from localstorage or a remote server. The metadata may be organized in a table orother data structure. For example, the media guidance application mayretrieve a data structure specific to the media asset currently beinggenerated for display. The metadata may be organized in a table, whereeach row of the table relates to a particular playback point or range ofplayback points and each field in the row contains a particular value(e.g., a string of characters). The values may be any character orstring of characters that describe the current playback point in themedia asset. For example, the metadata may be a song currently playingin the media asset, a location of a scene in the media asset, a generaldescription of the current action (e.g., “car chase”), or an actorappearing at that time in the media asset. The media guidanceapplication may compare the value for the current playback point (e.g.,a time code) with values in the data structure storing metadataassociated with playback points in the media asset. The media guidanceapplication may determine, based on the comparison, a particular fieldor fields of metadata that relate to the media asset at the currentplayback point. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that the current playback point of 30 minutes into the movie,“Edge of Tomorrow” matches a stored playback point in the data structureand may retrieve the string, “Tom Cruise” from an associated field.

The media guidance application may assign a context based on theretrieved metadata associated with the current playback point. Forexample, the media guidance application may use the metadata at thecurrent playback point to assign context to the keyword that the userhas searched for. Specifically, the media guidance application may usethe context as a filtering criterion to lower the number of resultsreturned for the keyword and thus provide the user with more meaningfulresults. In some embodiments, multiple metadata values may be returnedfor a given playback point. The media guidance application may, in thissituation, use some, all, or only a single one as the filteringcriteria. The media guidance application may choose which context toassign based on a user profile (e.g., the user likes Tom Cruise, so itis assigned as the context) and/or the number of results returned (e.g.,if one context would lead to zero results when combined with thekeyword, another context may be assigned).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may receive multiplekeywords that the user desires to search for, which may also be used todetermine the context. Specifically, the media guidance application mayreceive, while generating for display the media asset, a second keywordfrom the user. For example, the media guidance application may receive auser input of “Tom Cruise” and a user input of “Nicole Kidman,” twoactors in a particular movie being generated for display. The mediaguidance application may determine, based on characteristics of thefirst keyword and characteristics of the second keyword, a keywordcontext linking the first keyword with the second keyword. For example,the media guidance application may access a database either in localstorage or at a remote server that includes pairs of keywords and astring of characters that links the two keywords. For example, the mediaguidance application may determine that the database includes an entry,which may be specific to the media asset, that “Tom Cruise” and “NicholeKidman” are “romantic interests.” The media guidance application mayassign a default linking context or no linking context if one does notexist for two keywords in the database. The media guidance applicationmay assign the context based on both (1) the keyword context and (2) theretrieved metadata associated with the current playback point. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine that there aremultiple contexts from the retrieved metadata that is associated withthe current playback point. By using the keyword context, the mediaguidance application may be able to select the context desired by theuser and search for playback points that correspond to the desiredcontext. As a specific example, if the media guidance applicationdetermines that, from the retrieved metadata, the context could be“romantic” or “travel,” and that the keyword context is “romanticinterests,” then the media guidance application may determine thecontext should be “romantic” since it applies to both the keywordcontext and the retrieved metadata associated with the playback point.The media guidance application may determine whether the keyword contextmatches retrieved metadata based on comparing characters of the keywordcontext with characters of the retrieved metadata.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may assign thecontext based on user preferences. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may determine, based on the retrieved metadata, that aplurality of contexts correspond to the current playback point. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine that there aremultiple contexts from the retrieved metadata that is associated withthe current playback point. As a specific example, the media guidanceapplication may search a database for contexts associated with themovie, “Edge of Tomorrow” at a playback point of 30 minutes and retrievestrings of characters, “action” and “gun-fight,” corresponding to twocontexts at that playback point. The media guidance application mayretrieve, from a user profile, a context preference. For example, themedia guidance application may access a user profile stored in localstorage or at a remote server containing user preferences for particulartypes of content. As one specific example, the media guidanceapplication may search a viewing history in the user profile anddetermine that a threshold amount of media assets consumed by the userinclude a particular context (e.g., “gun-fight”) and may determine thatthe user has a preference for the context. As another example, the mediaguidance application may determine that there is an explicit preferencefor a particular context (e.g., stored in a favorites list) stored inthe user profile, such as an indication that the user enjoys “carchases.”

The media guidance application may determine that the context preferencematches a first context of the plurality of contexts. For example, themedia guidance application may retrieve one or more context preferencesof the user from the user profile and compare characters of each contextfrom the user profile to characters of each of the multiple contextpreferences for the current playback point. The media guidanceapplication may determine a match based on a threshold percentage (e.g.,90%) of the characters matching between two contexts. The media guidanceapplication may then assign the first context as the context. Forexample, upon determining that the user has a preference (e.g., based onthe user profile) for “gun-fights” and one of the contexts at thecurrent playback point is a “gun-fight” the media guidance applicationmay assign “gun-fight” as the context for search purposes. In someembodiments, multiple contexts may match between the user preferredcontexts from the user profile and the current playback point. In thissituation, the media guidance application may rank the contextsaccording to an algorithm to determine which context to assign. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine that the user hasviewed a threshold number of media assets that include “gun-fights” and“magic tricks,” which both match a context associated with a currentplayback point, but that the user has consumed more media assets with“gun-fights” than “magic tricks” and thus assigns “gun-fights” as thecontext. Alternatively or additionally, the media guidance applicationmay generate a ranking of contexts based on additional factors, such asthe popularity of a context described below, when determining whichcontext to assign.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may assign thecontext based on the popularity of particular contexts. Specifically,the media guidance application may determine, based on the retrievedmetadata, that a plurality of contexts correspond to the currentplayback point. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that there are multiple contexts from the retrieved metadatathat is associated with the current playback point. As a specificexample, the media guidance application may search a database forcontexts associated with the movie, “Edge of Tomorrow” at a playbackpoint of 30 minutes and retrieve strings of characters, “action” and“gun-fight,” corresponding to two contexts at that playback point. Themedia guidance application may retrieve, from a server, an indication ofpopularity for each of the plurality of contexts. For example, the mediaguidance application may access a server that includes a data structureof strings corresponding to contexts that are each associated with apopularity value. The media guidance application may compare charactersof each of the plurality of contexts with characters of stringscorresponding to contexts in the data structure. Upon determining amatch, the media guidance application may retrieve, from an associatedfield, a popularity value. The popularity value may be a ranking (e.g.,3^(rd) most popular based on searches in the past month), number (e.g.,the number of times the particular context has been searched/requestedover a period of time), or any other numeric value that allows twocontexts to be differentiated as more or less popular.

The media guidance application may determine, based on the retrievedindication of popularity for each of the plurality of contexts, a mostpopular context. For example, the media guidance application may comparethe retrieved values and determine which value indicates a more popularcontext. As a specific example, the media guidance application maydetermine that “gun-fight” has been searched for the 4^(th) most byusers and “car chase” has been search for the 10^(th) most by users overa predetermined period of time and thus determine “gun-fight” is morepopular. The media guidance application may assign the most popularcontext as the context. For example, upon determining that “gun-fight”is the most popular context that is associated with the current playbackpoint, the media guidance application may assign “gun-fight” as thecontext for search purposes.

The media guidance application may compare both (1) the keyword and (2)the context with a plurality of keywords and contexts associated withplayback points in the media asset. For example, the media guidanceapplication may search the data structure containing metadata related toplayback points in the media asset for a playback point that isassociated with both an identifier of the context and an identifier ofthe keyword. The media guidance application may compare characters ofthe context and keyword with characters of contexts and keywords storedin fields of the data structure. If both the context and keyword matchvalues stored in fields for the same playback point, the media guidanceapplication may determine that the playback point is a match.

The media guidance application may determine, based on the comparing,that the keyword and the context correspond to at least one playbackpoint in the media asset. For example, the media guidance applicationmay search the data structure containing metadata related to playbackpoints in the media asset for a playback point that is associated withboth an identifier of the context and an identifier of the keyword. As aspecific example, the media guidance application may determine that thekeyword, “Tom Cruise” and the context “car chase” match values at aplayback point of 55 minutes in the movie, “Edge of Tomorrow,” based oncomparison with metadata in the data structure associated with playbackpoints in the media asset.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may filter theplayback points that are generated for display to only display thosenear the current playback point. For example, if there are a largenumber of playback points that include both the keyword and context, themedia guidance application may not be able to adequately displayindicators for all of them (e.g., in a display-constrained environmentsuch as on a smart phone) and may select only some to present to theuser. Specifically, the media guidance application may determine anumber of the at least one playback point that correspond to the keywordand the context. For example, the media guidance application mayinitialize a counter while comparing the keyword and context with valuesin the data structure containing metadata related to playback points inthe media asset, as described above. The media guidance application mayincrement the counter for each match that is determined and store thevalue as the number of matches. The media guidance application maycompare the number to a threshold number. The threshold number may beany integer value, such as 5. The threshold number may be different fordifferent devices based on the display size. For example, the thresholdnumber for a television may be greater than a mobile phone, since thedisplay size of the television is larger and more results can bedisplayed (e.g., on a progress bar) on the television without obscuringthe media asset.

The media guidance application may determine that the number exceeds thethreshold number. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that the number exceeds the threshold number if 30 resultswere retrieved for a given keyword and context in a particular mediaasset and that the threshold number is ten. The media guidanceapplication may, in response to determining that the number exceeds thethreshold number, determine to generate for display a subset of the atleast one playback point, wherein the subset includes only playbackpoints within a threshold amount of time from the current playbackpoint. For example, the media guidance application may determine topresent fewer playback points by only presenting those within a certaintime window of the current playback point. The media guidanceapplication may determine the time window based on the threshold number.For example, if the threshold number is ten, then the media guidanceapplication may select the ten closest playback points to the currentplayback point that matched the keyword and context to be generated fordisplay. In some embodiments, the media guidance application may selectplayback points that are after the current playback point only. In otherembodiments, the media guidance application may select playback pointsthat are before and after the current playback point. In someembodiments, if the time window is predetermined (e.g., within 10minutes of the playback point) and greater than the threshold number ofresults are still within the time window, then the media guidanceapplication may select the threshold number of results to display andtransmit the other results to a second-screen device, such as a user'smobile phone.

The media guidance application may generate for display an indication ofthe at least one playback point. The indication may be any text orgraphic that is displayed that informs the user of the playback point(s)that match the context and keyword. For example, the media guidanceapplication may generate indicators (e.g., tick marks) on a progress barindicating the at least one playback point that matches both the keywordand the context, as described further below. As another example, themedia guidance application may transmit identifiers of the playbackpoint to a device that is not generating the media asset for display(e.g., the user is viewing a media asset on a television and theidentifiers are transmitted to the user's mobile phone).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generateselectable indicators allowing the user to jump to playback points thatmatch the context and keyword. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may receive a selection, by the user, of the indication. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive a selection of aparticular indicator from a user via a user input interface, such as aremote control. As a specific example, the user may press the “OK”button while a particular playback point is highlighted. The mediaguidance application may then generate for display the media asset fromthe first playback point. For example, when the user selects aparticular playback point, the media guidance application may play themedia asset from that playback point. In this way, the media guidanceapplication may allow a user to quickly navigate to scenes/playbackpoints of interest.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay a progress bar overlaid on the media asset. For example, themedia guidance application may generate for display, either overlaid onthe media asset or in a separate section of a display screen, a graphicof a bar that is filled in (e.g., in a particular color) up to a certainpoint indicating the current playback position. The progress bar mayoptionally include a numeric time indicator near the progress barindicating the currently playback position (e.g., 00:30:30 in hours:minutes: seconds). The media guidance application may determinelocations on the progress bar corresponding to each of the at least oneplayback point. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine positions on the progress bar where indicators should beplaced to inform the user of playback positions that match the keywordand the context. As a specific example, the media guidance applicationmay determine that the total length of the progress bar is ten pixelsand that a particular playback point that matches the keyword andcontext occurs when the media asset is 30% over. Accordingly, the mediaguidance application may determine that the location to display anindicator for that playback point is at the third pixel of the ten pixellength progress bar. The media guidance application may generate fordisplay, at each of the locations on the progress bar, the indication.For example, the media guidance application may generate for displaytick marks at each location or any other visually distinguishable markoverlaid on the progress bar to inform the user of the playback pointsthat match the keyword and the context.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may transmit some orall of the playback points that match the keyword and context to asecond device associated with the user. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may determine that a number of the at least one playbackpoint that correspond to the keyword and the context exceed a thresholdnumber to display on the first device. For example, as described above,the threshold number may be any integer value, such as 5. The thresholdnumber may be different for different devices based on the display size.For example, the threshold number for a television may be greater than amobile phone, since the display size of the television is larger andmore results can be displayed (e.g., on a progress bar) on thetelevision without obscuring the media asset. For example, the mediaguidance application may determine that the number exceeds the thresholdnumber if 30 results were retrieved for a given keyword and context in aparticular media asset and that the threshold number is ten for aparticular device (e.g., a smart phone). The media guidance application,in response to determining that the number exceeds the threshold numberto display on the first device, determines a second device associatedwith the user. For example, the media guidance application may access auser profile associated with the user in local storage or at a remoteserver. The media guidance application may retrieve an identifier (e.g.,an IP address or phone number) of a device associated with the user fromthe user profile. The media guidance application may then transmit dataassociated with one or more of the at least one playback points to thesecond device to be displayed by the second device. For example, themedia guidance application may transmit a data packet to the seconddevice including identifiers of the playback points and instructions togenerate the identifiers for display in a particular format (e.g., atable).

It should be noted the systems and/or methods described above may beapplied to, or used in accordance with, other systems, methods and/orapparatuses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of a display presenting a mediaasset to a user, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative example of a display presenting playbackpoints in a media asset that correspond to a keyword and a context, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows another illustrative example of a display presenting amedia asset to a user, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 4 shows another illustrative example of a display presentingplayback points in a media asset that correspond to a keyword and acontext, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative example of a display screen for use inaccessing media content in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 6 shows another illustrative example of a display screen for use inaccessing media content in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of illustrative actions for determining playbackpoints in media assets, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 10 is another flowchart of illustrative actions for determiningplayback points in media assets, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of illustrative actions for determining metadataassociated with a current playback point in a media asset, in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of illustrative actions for assigning a context,in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 13 is another flowchart of illustrative actions for determiningplayback points in a media asset matching a keyword and a context, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods are described for determining playback points inmedia assets based on both a keyword and a context of a current playbackpoint in a media asset. For example, while consuming a media asset, auser may input a keyword (e.g., the text “Tom Cruise”). In response tothe user input of the keyword, a current playback point in the mediaasset is determined and context of the media asset at the currentplayback point are determined (e.g., the current playback point involvesa car chase). Playback points are determined that match both the contextand the keyword and presented to the user (e.g., playback points withTom Cruise in a car chase).

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of a display presenting a mediaasset to a user, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.For example, display 100 may be coupled to user equipment which executesa media guidance application in order to display media asset 102 to auser. Media asset 102 is at current playback point 106, which may beindicated on display 100 via an indicator on a progress bar. The mediaguidance application may receive keyword 104 via a user input interfacecoupled to the same user equipment displaying display 100 or other userequipment. Display 100 may appear on one or more user devices (e.g., anyof the devices listed in FIGS. 7-8 below). Moreover, the media guidanceapplication may use one or more of the processes described in FIGS. 9-13to generate display 100 or any of the features described therein.

In some embodiments, a media guidance application may generate fordisplay a media asset. For example, the media guidance application maygenerate for display media asset 102 on display 100. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may generate media asset 102for display in response to receiving a user selection of media asset 102(e.g., via a user input interface such as a touch screen).

The media guidance application may receive, while generating for displaythe media asset, a keyword from a user. For example, the media guidanceapplication may receive text, graphics, or a combination that identifyat least one characteristic of the media asset as the keyword (e.g.,keyword 104). The characteristic may be any metadata relating to themedia asset, such as a person associated with the media asset (e.g.,actor, director, producer, etc.) and/or an identifier of the action(e.g., “car chase,”), and/or an identifier of a location (e.g.,“Paris”). In some embodiments, the media guidance application maygenerate for display (e.g., on display 100) a field for text input ofthe keyword (e.g., keyword 104). For example, using a remote control,the user may input a string of characters (e.g., “Tom Cruise”) which themedia guidance application receives as the keyword (e.g., keyword 104).

The media guidance application, in response to receiving the keywordfrom the user may determine a context in the media asset being generatedfor display. Specifically, the media guidance application may determinea current playback point in the media asset. For example, the mediaguidance application may retrieve a time code (e.g., “00:30:00:00”, inthe format hours: minutes: seconds: frames) corresponding to the currentplayback point (e.g., current playback point 106) in the media asset(e.g., 30 minutes into media asset 102). The media guidance applicationmay retrieve the time code from a time code signal in the media asset(e.g., media asset 102) containing a set of binary coded decimal valuesreferring to the present playback position in the media asset. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine that a particularsignal or header in a data packet contains binary coded decimal valuesand retrieve those values. The media guidance application converts eachbinary coded decimal value to a corresponding decimal valuecorresponding to the time code. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that four particular bits relating to onevalue in the time code are “1001” which may correspond to the value “9”in the time code.

The media guidance application may retrieve metadata associated with thecurrent playback point. For example, the media guidance application mayretrieve metadata associated with the current playback point (e.g.,current playback point 106) from local storage or a remote server. Themetadata may be organized in a table or other data structure. Forexample, the media guidance application may retrieve a data structurespecific to the media asset (e.g., media asset 102) currently beinggenerated for display. The metadata may be organized in a table, whereeach row of the table relates to a particular playback point or range ofplayback points and each field in the row contains a particular value(e.g., a string of characters). The values may be any character orstring of characters that describe the current playback point (e.g.,current playback point 106) in the media asset (e.g., media asset 102).For example, the metadata may be a song currently playing in the mediaasset (e.g., media asset 102), a location of a scene in the media asset(e.g., media asset 102), a general description of the current action(e.g., “car chase”), or an actor appearing at that time in the mediaasset (e.g., media asset 102). The media guidance application maycompare the value for the current playback point (e.g., current playbackpoint 106) with values in the data structure storing metadata associatedwith playback points in the media asset (e.g., media asset 102). Themedia guidance application may determine, based on the comparison, aparticular field or fields of metadata that relate to the media asset(e.g., media asset 102) at the current playback point (e.g., currentplayback point 106). For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that the current playback point (e.g., current playback point106) of 30 minutes into the movie, “Edge of Tomorrow” (e.g., media asset102) matches a stored playback point in the data structure and mayretrieve the string, “Tom Cruise” from an associated field.

The media guidance application may assign a context based on theretrieved metadata associated with the current playback point. Forexample, the media guidance application may use the metadata at thecurrent playback point to assign context to the keyword (e.g., keyword104) that the user has searched for. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may use the context as a filtering criterion to lower thenumber of results returned for the keyword (e.g., keyword 104) and thusprovide the user with more meaningful results. In some embodiments,multiple metadata values may be returned for a given playback point(e.g., current playback point 106). The media guidance application may,in this situation, use some, all, or only a single one as the filteringcriteria. The media guidance application may choose which context toassign based on a user profile (e.g., the user likes Tom Cruise, so itis assigned as the context) and/or the number of results returned (e.g.,if one context would lead to zero results when combined with thekeyword, another context may be assigned).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may receive multiplekeywords that the user desires to search for, which may also be used todetermine the context. Specifically, the media guidance application mayreceive, while generating for display the media asset, a second keywordfrom the user. For example, the media guidance application may receive auser input of “Tom Cruise” (e.g., keyword 104) and a user input of“Nicole Kidman,” two actors in a particular movie (e.g., media asset102) being generated for display. The media guidance application maydetermine, based on characteristics of the first keyword andcharacteristics of the second keyword, a keyword context linking thefirst keyword with the second keyword. For example, the media guidanceapplication may access a database either in local storage or at a remoteserver that includes pairs of keywords (e.g., keyword 104 and anotherkeyword) and a string of characters that links the two keywords. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine that the databaseincludes an entry, which may be specific to the media asset, that “TomCruise” and “Nichole Kidman” are “romantic interests.” The mediaguidance application may assign a default linking context or no linkingcontext if one does not exist for two keywords in the database. Themedia guidance application may assign the context based on both (1) thekeyword context and (2) the retrieved metadata associated with thecurrent playback point (e.g., current playback point 106). For example,the media guidance application may determine that there are multiplecontexts from the retrieved metadata that is associated with the currentplayback point (e.g., current playback point 106). By using the keywordcontext, the media guidance application may be able to select thecontext desired by the user and search for playback points thatcorrespond to the desired context. As a specific example, if the mediaguidance application determines that, from the retrieved metadata, thecontext could be “romantic” or “travel,” and that the keyword context is“romantic interests,” then the media guidance application may determinethe context should be “romantic” since it applies to both the keywordcontext and the retrieved metadata associated with the playback point(e.g., current playback point 106). The media guidance application maydetermine whether the keyword context matches retrieved metadata basedon comparing characters of the keyword context with characters of theretrieved metadata.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may assign thecontext based on user preferences. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may determine, based on the retrieved metadata, that aplurality of contexts correspond to the current playback point (e.g.,current playback point 106). For example, the media guidance applicationmay determine that there are multiple contexts from the retrievedmetadata that is associated with the current playback point (e.g.,current playback point 106). As a specific example, the media guidanceapplication may search a database for contexts associated with themovie, “Edge of Tomorrow” (e.g., media asset 102) at a playback point of30 minutes (e.g., current playback point 106) and retrieve strings ofcharacters, “action” and “gun-fight,” corresponding to two contexts atthat playback point. The media guidance application may retrieve, from auser profile, a context preference. For example, the media guidanceapplication may access a user profile stored in local storage or at aremote server containing user preferences for particular types ofcontent. As one specific example, the media guidance application maysearch a viewing history in the user profile and determine that athreshold amount of media assets consumed by the user include aparticular context (e.g., “gun-fight”) and may determine that the userhas a preference for the context. As another example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that there is an explicit preference for aparticular context (e.g., stored in a favorites list) stored in the userprofile, such as an indication that the user enjoys “car chases.”

The media guidance application may determine that the context preferencematches a first context of the plurality of contexts. For example, themedia guidance application may retrieve one or more context preferencesof the user from the user profile and compare characters of each contextfrom the user profile to characters of each of the multiple contextpreferences for the current playback point (e.g., current playback point106). The media guidance application may determine a match based on athreshold percentage (e.g., 90%) of the characters matching between twocontexts. The media guidance application may then assign the firstcontext as the context. For example, upon determining that the user hasa preference (e.g., based on the user profile) for “gun-fights” and oneof the contexts at the current playback point (e.g., current playbackpoint 106) is a “gun-fight” the media guidance application may assign“gun-fight” as the context for search purposes. In some embodiments,multiple contexts may match between the user preferred contexts from theuser profile and the current playback point (e.g., current playbackpoint 106). In this situation, the media guidance application may rankthe contexts according to an algorithm to determine which context toassign. For example, the media guidance application may determine thatthe user has viewed a threshold number of media assets that include“gun-fights” and “magic tricks,” which both match a context associatedwith a current playback point, but that the user has consumed more mediaassets with “gun-fights” than “magic tricks” and thus assigns“gun-fights” as the context. Alternatively or additionally, the mediaguidance application may generate a ranking of contexts based onadditional factors, such as the popularity of a context described below,when determining which context to assign.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may assign thecontext based on the popularity of particular contexts. Specifically,the media guidance application may determine, based on the retrievedmetadata, that a plurality of contexts correspond to the currentplayback point (e.g., current playback point 106). For example, themedia guidance application may determine that there are multiplecontexts from the retrieved metadata that is associated with the currentplayback point (e.g., current playback point 106). As a specificexample, the media guidance application may search a database forcontexts associated with the movie, “Edge of Tomorrow” (e.g., mediaasset 102) at a playback point of 30 minutes (e.g., current playbackpoint 106) and retrieve strings of characters, “action” and “gun-fight,”corresponding to two contexts at that playback point. The media guidanceapplication may retrieve, from a server, an indication of popularity foreach of the plurality of contexts. For example, the media guidanceapplication may access a server that includes a data structure ofstrings corresponding to contexts that are each associated with apopularity value. The media guidance application may compare charactersof each of the plurality of contexts with characters of stringscorresponding to contexts in the data structure. Upon determining amatch, the media guidance application may retrieve, from an associatedfield, a popularity value. The popularity value may be a ranking (e.g.,3^(rd) most popular based on searches in the past month), number (e.g.,the number of times the particular context has been searched/requestedover a period of time), or any other numeric value that allows twocontexts to be differentiated as more or less popular.

The media guidance application may determine, based on the retrievedindication of popularity for each of the plurality of contexts, a mostpopular context. For example, the media guidance application may comparethe retrieved values and determine which value indicates a more popularcontext. As a specific example, the media guidance application maydetermine that “gun-fight” has been searched for the 4^(th) most byusers and “car chase” has been search for the 10^(th) most by users overa predetermined period of time and thus determine “gun-fight” is morepopular. The media guidance application may assign the most popularcontext as the context. For example, upon determining that “gun-fight”is the most popular context that is associated with the current playbackpoint, the media guidance application may assign “gun-fight” as thecontext for search purposes.

The media guidance application may compare both (1) the keyword and (2)the context with a plurality of keywords and contexts associated withplayback points in the media asset. For example, the media guidanceapplication may search the data structure containing metadata related toplayback points in the media asset (e.g., media asset 102) for aplayback point that is associated with both an identifier of the contextand an identifier of the keyword (e.g., keyword 104). The media guidanceapplication may compare characters of the context and keyword (e.g.,keyword 104) with characters of contexts and keywords stored in fieldsof the data structure. If both the context and keyword (e.g., keyword104) match values stored in fields for the same playback point, themedia guidance application may determine that the playback point is amatch.

The media guidance application may determine, based on the comparing,that the keyword and the context correspond to at least one playbackpoint in the media asset. For example, the media guidance applicationmay search the data structure containing metadata related to playbackpoints in the media asset (e.g., media asset 102) for a playback pointthat is associated with both an identifier of the context and anidentifier of the keyword (e.g., keyword 104). As a specific example,the media guidance application may determine that the keyword, “TomCruise” (e.g., keyword 104) and the context “car chase” match values ata playback point of 55 minutes in the movie, “Edge of Tomorrow,” basedon comparison with metadata in the data structure associated withplayback points in the media asset (e.g., media asset 102).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application filter the playbackpoints that are generated for display to only display those near thecurrent playback point. For example, if there are a large number ofplayback points that include both the keyword (e.g., keyword 104) andcontext (e.g., based on metadata relating to current playback point106), the media guidance application may not be able to adequatelydisplay indicators for all of the playback points (e.g., in adisplay-constrained environment such as on a smart phone) and may selectonly some to present to the user. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may determine a number of the at least one playback pointthat correspond to the keyword (e.g., keyword 104) and the context. Forexample, the media guidance application may initialize a counter whilecomparing the keyword (e.g., keyword 104) and context with values in thedata structure containing metadata related to playback points in themedia asset (e.g., media asset 102), as described above. The mediaguidance application may increment the counter for each match that isdetermined and store the value as the number of matches. The mediaguidance application may compare the number to a threshold number. Thethreshold number may be any integer value, such as 5. The thresholdnumber may be different for different devices based on the display size.For example, the threshold number for a television may be greater than amobile phone, since the display size of the television is larger andmore results can be displayed (e.g., on a progress bar) on thetelevision without obscuring the media asset (e.g., media asset 102).

The media guidance application may determine that the number exceeds thethreshold number. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that the number exceeds the threshold number if 30 resultswere retrieved for a given keyword (e.g., keyword 1040 and context in aparticular media asset (e.g., media asset 102) and that the thresholdnumber is ten. The media guidance application may, in response todetermining that the number exceeds the threshold number, determine togenerate for display a subset of the at least one playback point,wherein the subset includes only playback points within a thresholdamount of time from the current playback point (e.g., current playbackpoint 106). For example, the media guidance application may determine topresent fewer playback points by only presenting those within a certaintime window of the current playback point (e.g., current playback point106). The media guidance application may determine the time window basedon the threshold number. For example, if the threshold number is ten,then the media guidance application may select the ten closest playbackpoints to the current playback point that matched the keyword (e.g.,keyword 104) and context to be generated for display. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may select playback pointsthat are after the current playback point (e.g., current playback point106) only. In other embodiments, the media guidance application mayselect playback points that are before and after the current playbackpoint (e.g., current playback point 106). In some embodiments, if thetime window is predetermined (e.g., within 10 minutes of the playbackpoint) and greater than the threshold number of results are still withinthe time window, then the media guidance application may select thethreshold number of results to display and transmit the other results toa second-screen device, such as a user's mobile phone.

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative example of a display presenting playbackpoints in a media asset that correspond to a keyword and a context, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. For example, display200 may be coupled to user equipment which executes a media guidanceapplication in order to display media asset 102 to a user. Afterreceiving a keyword (e.g., keyword 104) and determining a context, asdescribed with respect to FIG. 1, display 200 may include playbackpoints 202 displayed in a grid that match both the keyword and thecontext. Display 200 may additionally include descriptions 204 providingadditional information on each of playback points 202. For example,playback point 206 is associated with description 208. Display 200 mayappear on one or more user devices (e.g., any of the devices listed inFIGS. 7-8 below). Moreover, the media guidance application may use oneor more of the processes described in FIGS. 9-13 to generate display 200or any of the features described therein.

The media guidance application may generate for display an indication ofthe at least one playback point. The indication (e.g., of playbackpoints 202) may be any text or graphic that is displayed that informsthe user of the playback point(s) that match the context and keyword.For example, the media guidance application may generate cells organizedin a grid, where each cell includes a playback point (e.g., one ofplayback points 202). As another example, the media guidance applicationmay transmit identifiers of the playback point (e.g., playback points202) to a device that is not generating the media asset (e.g., mediaasset 102) for display (e.g., the user is viewing a media asset on atelevision and the identifiers are transmitted to the user's mobilephone).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generateselectable indicators allowing the user to jump to playback points thatmatch the context and keyword. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may receive a selection, by the user, of the indication. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive a selection of aparticular indicator (e.g., of a cell containing playback point 206)from a user via a user input interface, such as a remote control. As aspecific example, the user may press the “OK” button while a particularplayback point (e.g., playback point 206) is highlighted. The mediaguidance application may then generate for display the media asset(e.g., media asset 102) from the playback point associated with theindicator (e.g., playback point 206). For example, when the user selectsa particular playback point (e.g., playback point 206), the mediaguidance application may play back the media asset (e.g., media asset102) from the playback point. In this way, the media guidanceapplication may allow a user to quickly navigate to scenes/playbackpoints of interest.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may transmit some orall of the playback points (e.g., playback points 202) that match thekeyword and context to a second device associated with the user.Specifically, the media guidance application may determine that a numberof the at least one playback point (e.g., playback points 202) thatcorrespond to the keyword and the context exceed a threshold number todisplay on the first device (e.g., on display 200). For example, asdescribed above, the threshold number may be any integer value, such as5. The threshold number may be different for different devices based onthe display size. For example, the threshold number for a television maybe greater than a mobile phone, since the display size of the televisionis larger and more results can be displayed (e.g., on a progress bar) onthe television without obscuring the media asset. For example, the mediaguidance application may determine that the number exceeds the thresholdnumber if 30 results were determined for a given keyword and context ina particular media asset (e.g., media asset 102) and that the thresholdnumber is ten for a particular device (e.g., a smart phone). The mediaguidance application, in response to determining that the number exceedsthe threshold number to display on the first device, determines a seconddevice associated with the user. For example, the media guidanceapplication may access a user profile associated with the user in localstorage or at a remote server. The media guidance application mayretrieve an identifier (e.g., an IP address or phone number) of a deviceassociated with the user from the user profile. The media guidanceapplication may then transmit data associated with one or more of the atleast one playback points (e.g., playback points 202) to the seconddevice to be displayed by the second device. For example, the mediaguidance application may transmit a data packet to the second deviceincluding identifiers of the playback points (e.g., playback points 202)and instructions to generate the identifiers for display in a particularformat (e.g., a table).

FIG. 3 shows another illustrative example of a display presenting amedia asset to a user, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. For example, display 300 may be coupled to user equipmentwhich executes a media guidance application in order to display mediaasset 302 to a user. Media asset 302 is at current playback point 312,which may be indicated on display 100 via an indicator on progress bar310. Display 300 may include indicators 304, 306, and 308. Indicators304, 306, and 310 may be selectable by the user using a user inputinterface (e.g., a touch screen). Upon selection of one or more ofindicators 304, 306, and/or 308, the media guidance application maydetermine an attribute associated with the one or more selectedindicators is a keyword for a search in media asset 302, similar to asdiscussed above with respect to FIG. 1. Display 300 may appear on one ormore user devices (e.g., any of the devices listed in FIGS. 7-8 below).Moreover, the media guidance application may use one or more of theprocesses described in FIGS. 9-13 to generate display 300 or any of thefeatures described therein.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay suggested and/or popular search terms (e.g., indicators 304,306, and 308) in response to a user request to perform a search whileconsuming the media asset (e.g., media asset 302). For example, the usermay select a “search” button on a remote control and indicatorscontaining graphics (e.g., indicator 304 may include a picture of anactor) and/or text for keywords may be generated for display by themedia guidance application. The media guidance application may receive auser selection of one of the indicators (e.g., indicator 308) anddetermine the keyword based on the selection (e.g., an actressassociated with a graphic of indicator 308).

In some embodiments, the indicators are generated either as an overlayof the media asset or in a separate section of the display from themedia asset. For example, the media guidance application may generateindicators (e.g., indicators 304, 306, and 308) of keywords for the userto select on the right side of a display screen (e.g., display 300) andthe media asset (e.g., media asset 302) on the left side. Alternativelyor additionally, the media guidance application may overlay the keywordson the media asset. The media guidance application may generate fordisplay translucent indicators (e.g., indicators 304, 306, and 308) toallow a user to view the media asset (e.g., media asset 302). In someembodiments, the media guidance application may dynamically update theindicators (e.g., indicators 304, 306, and 308) based on the currentplayback point (e.g., current playback point 312) in the media asset(e.g., media asset 302). For example, in scenes with Tom Cruise,different keywords may be more commonly selected than scenes with EmilyBlunt so some or all of the indicators (e.g., some or all of indicators304, 306, and 308) may be swapped depending on which actor is in themedia asset (e.g., media asset 302) at the current playback point (e.g.,current playback point 312).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay a plurality of indicators (e.g., indicators 304, 306, and 308)for attributes of the media asset. For example, the media guidanceapplication may generate a series of graphics (e.g., indicators 304,306, and 308) associated with attributes of the media asset (e.g., mediaasset 302). As a specific example, one graphic may include a headshot ofthe actor Emily Blunt and another graphic may include a picture of theEiffel Tower (e.g., representing Paris) as both Emily Blunt and Parisare attributes of the media asset (e.g., media asset 302) currentlybeing generated for display. The media guidance application may generateuniformly shaped indicators (e.g., circles of the same size) or vary theshapes and sizes of the indicators based on the properties of thegraphics. For example, in order to avoid distortion, the media guidanceapplication may generate graphics in the same aspect ratio as theirsource files. Alternatively or additionally, the media guidanceapplication may generate indicators of different sizes based on thepopularity of the associated attribute. For example, the media guidanceapplication may access a database and determine that users have searchedfor Tom Cruise one million more times than Emily Blunt. The mediaguidance application may accordingly generate for display a largerindicator with a headshot of Tom Cruise than one of Emily Blunt.

The media guidance application may receive a user input from the userselecting a first indicator associated with a first attribute. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive a user input (e.g.,via a user input interface such as a touch screen on a tablet) of aparticular indicator (e.g., indicator 308). As a specific example, themedia guidance application may receive a user input selecting a graphic(e.g., indicator 308) with a headshot of an actress. The media guidanceapplication may, in response to receiving the user input selecting thefirst indicator, determine that the first attribute is the keyword. Forexample, upon determining that the user has selected an indicator (e.g.,indicator 308) with a headshot of Emily Blunt, the media guidanceapplication may determine that “Emily Blunt,” the attribute associatedwith the indicator (e.g., indicator 308), is the keyword that the userdesires to search for.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generateindicators (e.g., indicators 304, 306, and 308) for categories ofattributes associated with the media asset. After receiving a selectionof a category of attributes, the media guidance application may generateindicators associated with the category, which may allow for moreefficient use of display space in display constrained environments.Specifically, the media guidance application may, in response toreceiving the keyword from the user, compare attributes of the keywordwith attributes of each of a plurality of keywords related to the mediaasset (e.g., media asset 302). For example, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display indicators for general categoriesof attributes associated with the media asset, such as “actors,”“locations,” and/or “scene type.” The general category indicators may befor any keyword that has associated sub-keywords associated with themedia asset. For example, “Tom Cruise” may be associated with “TomCruise running,” “Tom Cruise fighting,” “Tom Cruise sleeping,” etc. andthus constitutes a general category. The media guidance application maydetermine to generate indicators (e.g., indicators 304, 306, and 308)for categories if there is a large number of attributes that could notfit on the display without obscuring the media asset. Upon receiving aselection from the user of a particular keyword (e.g., such as thecategory actor), the media guidance application may compare eachattribute associated with the media asset to the selected keyword. Forexample, upon selection of an indicator that corresponds to an “actor”category, the media guidance application may, via character comparisonwith attributes of the media asset, determine which attributes areactors. The media guidance application may determine a subset of theplurality of keywords that have an attribute that matches an attributeof the keyword. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that there are five actors associated with the media asset“Edge of Tomorrow.” Specifically, the media guidance application maydetermine the subset based on retrieving attributes, either locally orfrom a remote server, and comparing metadata associated with theattributes with the keyword.

The media guidance application may generate for display the subset ofthe plurality of keywords. As one example, the media guidanceapplication may generate indicators overlaid or in a separate section ofthe same display on which the media asset (e.g., media asset 302) isalso being generated for displayed. After receiving the selection of thekeyword and determining the subset of related keywords, the mediaguidance application may generate for display new indicators (e.g.,replacing indicators 304, 306, and 308) with the subset of the pluralityof keywords instead of the keywords (e.g., for the categories) that wereinitially generated. As a specific example, indicators for “actor” and“location” may be replaced by specific actors (e.g., Tom Cruise andEmily Blunt) after a selection of “actor.” Alternatively oradditionally, the selected indicator may continue to be generated fordisplay and the subset of the plurality of keywords may be generated fordisplay radially around the selected keyword. In this example, the mediaguidance application may cease generating for display unselectedkeywords. Upon receiving a selection of one of the plurality ofkeywords, the media guidance application may determine the keyword thatthe user desires to search for in the media asset (e.g., media asset302). In this way, the media guidance application may provide the userwith more specific keywords via categories to better target specificplayback points the user is interested in, while also conserving displayspace.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may receive aselection of a keyword based on the user dragging one or more indicators(e.g., via a touchscreen device) and releasing the indicator(s) (e.g.,one or more of indicators 304, 306, and 308) on the media asset (e.g.,media asset 302) that is currently being generated for display.Specifically, the media guidance application may receive a user inputselecting a first indicator of a plurality of indicators. For example,the media guidance application may receive a user selection of agraphical indicator (e.g., indicator 308) associated with a keyword(e.g., “Emily Blunt”). The media guidance application may then determinethat, based on the user input, the user has dragged the graphicalindicator over a specific portion of the media asset currently beinggenerated for display. For example, the media guidance application mayretrieve, from a database, an indication that objects are in certainportions of the media asset (e.g., media asset 302) at specific times(e.g., a range of time codes). As a specific example, the media guidanceapplication may retrieve an indication that at a current playback point(e.g., current playback point 312), the object “boat” is in the centerof the screen (e.g., defined by a box of pixel coordinates) and that thesun is in the top right corner of the screen. The media guidanceapplication may determine that the user has dragged the graphicalindicator (e.g., corresponding to the keyword) to one of the regions ofthe media asset corresponding to an object based on the pixelcoordinates of the objects retrieved from the database. For example, themedia guidance application may determine that the user dragged agraphical indicator (e.g., indicator 308) for “Emily Blunt” over the“boat” object in a media asset (e.g., media asset 302) currently beinggenerated for display. In response to determining that the user hasdragged the graphical indicator to a region of the media asset with anobject, the media guidance application may assign the context based onthe object. Continuing with the previous example, the media guidanceapplication may assign “boat” or any attribute relating to the object“boat,” as the context for search purposes with the keyword “EmilyBlunt.”

FIG. 4 shows another illustrative example of a display presentingplayback points in a media asset that correspond to a keyword and acontext, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Forexample, display 400 may be coupled to user equipment which executes amedia guidance application in order to display media asset 302 to auser. After receiving a keyword (e.g., a selection of indicator 308 bythe user) and determining a context, as described with respect to FIG.1, display 300 may include playback points 402, 404, 406, and 408overlaid on progress bar 310. Display 400 may appear on one or more userdevices (e.g., any of the devices listed in FIGS. 7-8 below). Moreover,the media guidance application may use one or more of the processesdescribed in FIGS. 9-13 to generate display 400 or any of the featuresdescribed therein.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay an indication of the at least one playback point. The indication(e.g., of playback points 402, 404, 406, and 408) may be any text orgraphic that is displayed that informs the user of the playback point(s)that match the context and keyword. For example, the media guidanceapplication may generate indicators (e.g., tick marks) on a progress bar(e.g., overlaid on progress bar 310) indicating the at least oneplayback point (e.g., playback point 402) that matches both the keywordand the context, as described further below.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay a progress bar (e.g., progress bar 310) overlaid on the mediaasset. For example, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay, either overlaid on the media asset or in a separate section ofa display screen, a graphic of a bar that is filled in (e.g., in aparticular color) up to a certain point indicating the current playbackposition. The progress bar (e.g., progress bar 310) may optionallyinclude a numeric time indicator near the progress bar indicating thecurrently playback position (e.g., 00:30:30 in hours: minutes: seconds).The media guidance application may determine locations on the progressbar (e.g., progress bar 310) corresponding to each of the at least oneplayback point (e.g., each of playback points 402, 404, 406, and 408).For example, the media guidance application may determine positions onthe progress bar (e.g., progress bar 310) where indicators should beplaced to inform the user of playback positions that match the keywordand the context. As a specific example, the media guidance applicationmay determine that the total length of the progress bar (e.g., progressbar 310) is ten pixels and that a particular playback point (e.g.,playback point 404) that matches the keyword and context occurs when themedia asset (e.g., media asset 302) is 30% over. Accordingly, the mediaguidance application may determine that the location to display anindicator for that playback point (e.g., playback point 404) is at thethird pixel of the ten pixel length progress bar. The media guidanceapplication may generate for display, at each of the locations on theprogress bar, the indication. For example, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display vertical tick marks of a giventhickness at each location or any other visually distinguishable markoverlaid on the progress bar to inform the user of the playback pointsthat match the keyword and the context.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may perform a searchusing both context and keywords(s) without consuming a media asset. Forexample, due to the small display size of some touch screen devices, itmay be desirable to allow for filtering and/or searching through largenumbers of results even when not consuming a media asset. As a specificexample, the media guidance application may generate for displayindicators and allow a user to filter the results by dragging theindicators to different locations on the screen. Specifically, the mediaguidance application may generate indicators based on a user search fora keyword, or may generate default indicators associated with anapplication the user is currently using. For example, the user may input(e.g., via a user input interface such as a touch screen) the searchterm “Tom Cruise” and the media guidance application may generate fordisplay indicators (e.g., graphics and/or text) with results associatedwith “Tom Cruise.” Alternatively or additionally, the media guidanceapplication may automatically choose indicators to generate for displaybased on an application and/or use of the device. For example, the mediaguidance application may generate for display graphics for a pluralityof different actors when the user opens a movies application on thedevice.

The media guidance application may then receive a user selection of oneor more of the indicators and execute an appropriate action. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive a user selection ofone indicator and may generate for display information associated withthe indicator. As a specific example, if a user selects an indicatorassociated with the “Mission Impossible” movies, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display indicators for each of the movies,review summaries for the movies, actors in the movies, or any otherinformation related to “Mission Impossible.” As another example, themedia guidance application may receive a user selection of multipleindicators, which the media guidance application may interpret as arequest to refine the indicators displayed to include results related toattributes associated with the selected indicators. For example, if themedia guidance application receives a user selection of indicatorsassociated with “car chases” and “Mission Impossible,” then the mediaguidance application may generate for display new indicators related tocar chases in the Mission Impossible movies.

The amount of content available to users in any given content deliverysystem can be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form ofmedia guidance through an interface that allows users to efficientlynavigate content selections and easily identify content that they maydesire. An application that provides such guidance is referred to hereinas an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, a mediaguidance application or a guidance application.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the content for which they provide guidance. One typical type ofmedia guidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that,among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many typesof content or media assets. Interactive media guidance applications maygenerate graphical user interface screens that enable a user to navigateamong, locate and select content. As referred to herein, the terms“media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean anelectronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, aswell as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand(VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadablecontent, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information,pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles,books, electronic books, blogs, chat sessions, social media,applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/orcombination of the same. Guidance applications also allow users tonavigate among and locate content. As referred to herein, the term“multimedia” should be understood to mean content that utilizes at leasttwo different content forms described above, for example, text, audio,images, video, or interactivity content forms. Content may be recorded,played, displayed or accessed by user equipment devices, but can also bepart of a live performance.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performingany of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computerreadable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable ofstoring data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including,but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals,or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile andnon-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk,floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processorcaches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on user equipment deviceson which they traditionally did not. As referred to herein, the phrase“user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronicdevice,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “mediadevice” should be understood to mean any device for accessing thecontent described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-topbox, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellitetelevision, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), adigital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, aDVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, aBLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PCmedia server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationarytelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, aportable video player, a portable music player, a portable gamingmachine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment, computingequipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same. In someembodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing screenand a rear facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angledscreens. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a frontfacing camera and/or a rear facing camera. On these user equipmentdevices, users may be able to navigate among and locate the same contentavailable through a television. Consequently, media guidance may beavailable on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be forcontent available only through a television, for content available onlythrough one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or forcontent available both through a television and one or more of the othertypes of user equipment devices. The media guidance applications may beprovided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or asstand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices. Variousdevices and platforms that may implement media guidance applications aredescribed in more detail below.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the phrase “mediaguidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any datarelated to content or data used in operating the guidance application.For example, the guidance data may include program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences, user profile information, medialistings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, titles, descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parentalcontrol ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or category information,actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos,etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, 3D,etc.), on-demand information, blogs, websites, and any other type ofguidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locatedesired content selections.

FIGS. 5-6 show illustrative display screens that may be used to providemedia guidance data. The display screens shown in FIGS. 5-6 may beimplemented on any suitable user equipment device or platform. While thedisplays of FIGS. 5-6 are illustrated as full screen displays, they mayalso be fully or partially overlaid over content being displayed. A usermay indicate a desire to access content information by selecting aselectable option provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, alistings option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicatedbutton (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user inputinterface or device. In response to the user's indication, the mediaguidance application may provide a display screen with media guidancedata organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in agrid, by time, by channel, by source, by content type, by category(e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories ofprogramming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organizationcriteria.

FIG. 5 shows illustrative grid of a program listings display 500arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different typesof content in a single display. Display 500 may include grid 502 with:(1) a column of channel/content type identifiers 504, where eachchannel/content type identifier (which is a cell in the column)identifies a different channel or content type available; and (2) a rowof time identifiers 506, where each time identifier (which is a cell inthe row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid 502 also includescells of program listings, such as program listing 508, where eachlisting provides the title of the program provided on the listing'sassociated channel and time. With a user input device, a user can selectprogram listings by moving highlight region 510. Information relating tothe program listing selected by highlight region 510 may be provided inprogram information region 512. Region 512 may include, for example, theprogram title, the program description, the time the program is provided(if applicable), the channel the program is on (if applicable), theprogram's rating, and other desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., contentthat is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipmentdevices at a predetermined time and is provided according to aschedule), the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipmentdevice at any time and is not provided according to a schedule).Non-linear programming may include content from different contentsources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content(e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above orother storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demandcontent may include movies or any other content provided by a particularcontent provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “CurbYour Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc.

Internet content may include web events, such as a chat session orWebcast, or content available on-demand as streaming content ordownloadable content through an Internet web site or other Internetaccess (e.g. FTP).

Grid 502 may provide media guidance data for non-linear programmingincluding on-demand listing 514, recorded content listing 516, andInternet content listing 518. A display combining media guidance datafor content from different types of content sources is sometimesreferred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of thetypes of media guidance data that may be displayed that are differentthan display 500 may be based on user selection or guidance applicationdefinition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings,only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings514, 516, and 518 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayedin grid 502 to indicate that selection of these listings may provideaccess to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings,or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings forthese content types may be included directly in grid 502. Additionalmedia guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selectingone of the navigational icons 520. (Pressing an arrow key on a userinput device may affect the display in a similar manner as selectingnavigational icons 520.)

Display 500 may also include video region 522, and options region 526.Video region 522 may allow the user to view and/or preview programs thatare currently available, will be available, or were available to theuser. The content of video region 522 may correspond to, or beindependent from, one of the listings displayed in grid 502. Griddisplays including a video region are sometimes referred to aspicture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and their functionalitiesare described in greater detail in Satterfield et al. U.S. Pat. No.6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,794,issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated by reference hereinin their entireties. PIG displays may be included in other mediaguidance application display screens of the embodiments describedherein.

Options region 526 may allow the user to access different types ofcontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 526 may be part of display 500 (andother display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user byselecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignablebutton on a user input device. The selectable options within optionsregion 526 may concern features related to program listings in grid 502or may include options available from a main menu display. Featuresrelated to program listings may include searching for other air times orways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling seriesrecording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite,purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a mainmenu display may include search options, VOD options, parental controloptions, Internet options, cloud-based options, device synchronizationoptions, second screen device options, options to access various typesof media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to a premiumservice, options to edit a user's profile, options to access a browseoverlay, or other options.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channelsbased on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display ofchannels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internetcontent (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail,electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desiredcustomizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the content theuser accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with theguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.Tivo.com, from other media guidance applicationsthe user accesses, from other interactive applications the useraccesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.), and/orobtain information about the user from other sources that the mediaguidance application may access. As a result, a user can be providedwith a unified guidance application experience across the user'sdifferent user equipment devices. This type of user experience isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 8. Additionalpersonalized media guidance application features are described ingreater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No.7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 6. Video mosaic display 600 includes selectable options 602 forcontent information organized based on content type, genre, and/or otherorganization criteria. In display 600, television listings option 604 isselected, thus providing listings 606, 608, 610, and 612 as broadcastprogram listings. In display 600 the listings may provide graphicalimages including cover art, still images from the content, video clippreviews, live video from the content, or other types of content thatindicate to a user the content being described by the media guidancedata in the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also beaccompanied by text to provide further information about the contentassociated with the listing. For example, listing 608 may include morethan one portion, including media portion 614 and text portion 616.Media portion 614 and/or text portion 616 may be selectable to viewcontent in full-screen or to view information related to the contentdisplayed in media portion 614 (e.g., to view listings for the channelthat the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 600 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 606 islarger than listings 608, 610, and 612), but if desired, all thelistings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes orgraphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user orto emphasize certain content, as desired by the content provider orbased on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating content listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Nov. 12, 2009,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and itsdisplay screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 7 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 700. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 8.User equipment device 700 may receive content and data via input/output(hereinafter “I/O”) path 702. I/O path 702 may provide content (e.g.,broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, contentavailable over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 704, which includesprocessing circuitry 706 and storage 708. Control circuitry 704 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 702. I/O path 702 may connect control circuitry 704 (andspecifically processing circuitry 706) to one or more communicationspaths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more ofthese communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 7 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 704 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 706. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 704 executesinstructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,storage 708). Specifically, control circuitry 704 may be instructed bythe media guidance application to perform the functions discussed aboveand below. For example, the media guidance application may provideinstructions to control circuitry 704 to generate the media guidancedisplays. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 704 may be based on instructions received from the mediaguidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 704 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 8). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 708 thatis part of control circuitry 704. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 708 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as mediaguidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage, described in relation to FIG. 8, may be used to supplementstorage 708 or instead of storage 708.

Control circuitry 704 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 704 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of the userequipment 700. Circuitry 704 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and todisplay, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 708 is provided as a separate device from userequipment 700, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multipletuners) may be associated with storage 708.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 704 using user inputinterface 710. User input interface 710 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 712 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 700. For example, display 712 may be a touchscreen ortouch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface 710may be integrated with or combined with display 712. Display 712 may beone or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD)for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperature polysilicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, activematrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display, cathoderay tube display, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescentdisplay, plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display,thin-film transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display,surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser television,carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric modulatordisplay, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images.In some embodiments, display 712 may be HDTV-capable. In someembodiments, display 712 may be a 3D display, and the interactive mediaguidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. Avideo card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 712.The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated renderingof 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry704. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 704.Speakers 714 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 700 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 712 may be played throughspeakers 714. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers714.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone applicationwholly-implemented on user equipment device 700. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage708), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodicbasis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, orusing another suitable approach). Control circuitry 704 may retrieveinstructions of the application from storage 708 and process theinstructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based onthe processed instructions, control circuitry 704 may determine whataction to perform when input is received from input interface 710. Forexample, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated bythe processed instructions when input interface 710 indicates that anup/down button was selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-serverbased application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented onuser equipment device 700 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests toa server remote to the user equipment device 700. In one example of aclient-server based guidance application, control circuitry 704 runs aweb browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. Forexample, the remote server may store the instructions for theapplication in a storage device. The remote server may process thestored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 704) andgenerate the displays discussed above and below. The client device mayreceive the displays generated by the remote server and may display thecontent of the displays locally on equipment device 700. This way, theprocessing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server whilethe resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device 700.Equipment device 700 may receive inputs from the user via inputinterface 710 and transmit those inputs to the remote server forprocessing and generating the corresponding displays. For example,equipment device 700 may transmit a communication to the remote serverindicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface 710.The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that inputand generate a display of the application corresponding to the input(e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display isthen transmitted to equipment device 700 for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 704). In some embodiments, the guidance applicationmay be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received bycontrol circuitry 704 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by auser agent running on control circuitry 704. For example, the guidanceapplication may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, theguidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files thatare received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitablemiddleware executed by control circuitry 704. In some of suchembodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 700 of FIG. 7 can be implemented in system 800 ofFIG. 8 as user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804,wireless user communications device 806, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gamingmachine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to hereincollectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may besubstantially similar to user equipment devices described above. Userequipment devices, on which a media guidance application may beimplemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of anetwork of devices. Various network configurations of devices may beimplemented and are discussed in more detail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 7 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, or awireless user communications device 806. For example, user televisionequipment 802 may, like some user computer equipment 804, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 804 may, like some television equipment 802, includea tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may have the same layout on various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 804, theguidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a webbrowser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled downfor wireless user communications devices 806.

In system 800, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 8 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device and also more than one of eachtype of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user televisionequipment 802, user computer equipment 804, wireless user communicationsdevice 806) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example,a second screen device may supplement content presented on a first userequipment device. The content presented on the second screen device maybe any suitable content that supplements the content presented on thefirst device. In some embodiments, the second screen device provides aninterface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the firstdevice. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured forinteracting with other second screen devices or for interacting with asocial network. The second screen device can be located in the same roomas the first device, a different room from the first device but in thesame house or building, or in a different building from the firstdevice.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.Tivo.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 814.Namely, user television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, andwireless user communications device 806 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 814 via communications paths 808, 810, and 812, respectively.

Communications network 814 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. Paths 808, 810, and 812 may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wirelesssignals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths. Path 812 is drawn with dotted lines toindicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 8 it is awireless path and paths 808 and 810 are drawn as solid lines to indicatethey are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, ifdesired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be providedby one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 808, 810, and 812, as well as other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 814.

System 800 includes content source 816 and media guidance data source818 coupled to communications network 814 via communication paths 820and 822, respectively. Paths 820 and 822 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 808, 810,and 812. Communications with the content source 816 and media guidancedata source 818 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 816 and media guidance data source 818, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 8 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 816 and media guidance data source 818 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 816 and 818 withuser equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 are shown as throughcommunications network 814, in some embodiments, sources 816 and 818 maycommunicate directly with user equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 viacommunication paths (not shown) such as those described above inconnection with paths 808, 810, and 812.

Content source 816 may include one or more types of content distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned bythe National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by theAmerican Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Content source 816 may be the originator ofcontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand contentprovider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs fordownloading, etc.). Content source 816 may include cable sources,satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 816 may also include a remote media server used to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely storedcontent to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connectionwith Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 818 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may beprovided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. Insome embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-aloneinteractive television program guide that receives program guide datavia a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Programschedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the userequipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other mediaguidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog ordigital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 818may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from aserver, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipmentdevice. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing onthe user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 818 to obtainguidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of dateor when the user equipment device receives a request from the user toreceive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment withany suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specifiedperiod of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to arequest from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 818 mayprovide user equipment devices 802, 804, and 806 the media guidanceapplication itself or software updates for the media guidanceapplication.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data.For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical useractivity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches,what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interactswith a social network, at what times the user interacts with a socialnetwork to post information, what types of content the user typicallywatches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information,etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. Forexample, the subscription data may identify to which sources or servicesa given user subscribes and/or to which sources or services the givenuser has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g.,whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user hasadded a premium level of services, whether the user has increasedInternet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or thesubscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period ofmore than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., asurvivor model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihooda given user will terminate access to a service/source. For example, themedia guidance application may process the viewer data with thesubscription data using the model to generate a value or score thatindicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate accessto a particular service or source. In particular, a higher score mayindicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminateaccess to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the mediaguidance application may generate promotions that entice the user tokeep the particular service or source indicated by the score as one towhich the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, themedia guidance application may be implemented as software or a set ofexecutable instructions which may be stored in storage 708, and executedby control circuitry 704 of a user equipment device 700. In someembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only a client application resides on the userequipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. Forexample, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as aclient application on control circuitry 704 of user equipment device 700and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., mediaguidance data source 818) running on control circuitry of the remoteserver. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such asmedia guidance data source 818), the media guidance application mayinstruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance applicationdisplays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipmentdevices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry ofthe media guidance data source 818 to transmit data for storage on theuser equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry ofthe receiving user equipment to generate the guidance applicationdisplays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices802, 804, and 806 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT contentdelivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any userequipment device described above, to receive content that is transferredover the Internet, including any content described above, in addition tocontent received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content isdelivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP maynot be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, orredistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets providedby the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers includeYOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IPpackets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is atrademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu,LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively providemedia guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or mediaguidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidanceapplications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications),or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored onthe user equipment device.

Media guidance system 800 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each otherfor the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. Theembodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset ofthese approaches, or in a system employing other approaches fordelivering content and providing media guidance. The following fourapproaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG. 8.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribed above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similardevice provided on a home network, or via communications network 814.Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate differentuser equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may bedesirable for various media guidance information or settings to becommunicated between the different user equipment devices. For example,it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidanceapplication settings on different user equipment devices within a homenetwork, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. PatentPublication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types ofuser equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with eachother to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content fromuser computer equipment to a portable video player or portable musicplayer.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, someusers may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith content source 816 to access content. Specifically, within a home,users of user television equipment 802 and user computer equipment 804may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locatedesirable content. Users may also access the media guidance applicationoutside of the home using wireless user communications devices 806 tonavigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloudcomputing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computingenvironment, various types of computing services for content sharing,storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networkingsites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing andstorage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloudcan include a collection of server computing devices, which may belocated centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-basedservices to various types of users and devices connected via a networksuch as the Internet via communications network 814. These cloudresources may include one or more content sources 816 and one or moremedia guidance data sources 818. In addition or in the alternative, theremote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such asuser television equipment 802, user computer equipment 804, and wirelessuser communications device 806. For example, the other user equipmentdevices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamedvideo. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in apeer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, contentsharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well asaccess to any content described above, for user equipment devices.Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing serviceproviders, or through other providers of online services. For example,the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, acontent sharing site, a social networking site, or other services viawhich user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others onconnected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipmentdevice to store content to the cloud and to receive content from thecloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-storedcontent.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders,digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, andhandheld computing devices, to record content. The user can uploadcontent to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, forexample, from user computer equipment 804 or wireless usercommunications device 806 having content capture feature. Alternatively,the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, suchas user computer equipment 804. The user equipment device storing thecontent uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmissionservice on communications network 814. In some embodiments, the userequipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipmentdevices can access the content directly from the user equipment deviceon which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, forexample, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktopapplication, a mobile application, and/or any combination of accessapplications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloudclient that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or theuser equipment device may have some functionality without access tocloud resources. For example, some applications running on the userequipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications deliveredas a service over the Internet, while other applications may be storedand run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user devicemay receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. Forexample, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource whiledownloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device candownload content from multiple cloud resources for more efficientdownloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloudresources for processing operations such as the processing operationsperformed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 7.

As referred herein, the term “in response to” refers to initiated as aresult of. For example, a first action being performed in response to asecond action may include interstitial steps between the first actionand the second action. As referred herein, the term “directly inresponse to” refers to caused by. For example, a first action beingperformed directly in response to a second action may not includeinterstitial steps between the first action and the second action.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of illustrative actions for determining playbackpoints in media assets, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. For example, a media guidance application implementingprocess 900 may be executed by control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7). It shouldbe noted that process 900 or any step thereof could be performed on, orprovided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS. 7-8.

Process 900 begins at 902, where the media guidance applicationgenerates (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) for display (e.g.,on display 712 (FIG. 7)) a media asset. For example, the media guidanceapplication may generate (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) fordisplay (e.g., on display 712 (FIG. 7)) the movie, “Edge of Tomorrow” ona display screen (e.g., of a tablet or television). In some embodiments,the media guidance application may generate (e.g., via control circuitry704 (FIG. 7)) a media asset for display in response to receiving a userselection of the media asset via a user input interface (e.g., userinput interface 710 (FIG. 7)).

Process 900 continues to 904, where the media guidance applicationreceives (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)), while generatingfor display the media asset, a user input of a keyword. For example, themedia guidance application may receive (e.g., via control circuitry 704(FIG. 7)) text, graphics, or a combination that identify at least onecharacteristic of the media asset. The characteristic may be anymetadata relating to the media asset, such as a person associated withthe media asset (e.g., actor, director, producer, etc.) and/or anidentifier of the action (e.g., “car chase,”), and/or an identifier of alocation (e.g., “Paris”). In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may generate (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) fordisplay (e.g., on display 712 (FIG. 7)) a field for text input of thekeyword. For example, using a remote control (e.g., user input interface710 (FIG. 7)), the user may input a string of characters (e.g., “TomCruise”), which the media guidance application may receive (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) as the keyword.

Process 900 continues to 906, where the media guidance application, inresponse to receiving the user input of the keyword, determines (e.g.,via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) context based on a current playbackpoint in the media asset. For example, the media guidance applicationmay retrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a time code(e.g., “00:30:00:00”, in the format hours: minutes: seconds: frames)corresponding to the current playback point in the media asset (e.g., 30minutes into the media asset). The media guidance application may thenretrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) metadata associatedwith the current playback point from local storage (e.g., storage 708(FIG. 7)) or a remote server (e.g., media guidance data source 818accessible via communications network 814 (FIG. 8)). The media guidanceapplication may then use (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) themetadata at the current playback point retrieved from the data structureto assign a context to the keyword that the user has searched for, asdescribed further below with respect to FIG. 12. As a specific example,the media guidance application may assign (e.g., via control circuitry704 (FIG. 7)) the context “car chase” based on the metadata retrievedfrom the data structure.

Process 900 continues to 908, where the media guidance applicationdetermines (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)), based on both (1)the keyword and (2) the context, at least one playback point in themedia asset. For example, the media guidance application may search(e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the data structure containingmetadata related to playback points in the media asset for a playbackpoint that is associated with both an identifier of the context and anidentifier of the keyword. As a specific example, the media guidanceapplication may determine (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7))that the keyword, “Tom Cruise” and the context “car chase” match valuesat a playback point of 55 minutes in the movie, “Edge of Tomorrow,”based on comparison with metadata in the data structure associated withplayback points in the media asset.

Process 900 continues to 910, where the media guidance applicationgenerates (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) for display (e.g.,on display 712 (FIG. 7)) an indication of the at least one playbackpoint. For example, the media guidance application may generate (e.g.,via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) indicators (e.g., tick marks) on aprogress bar indicating the at least one playback point that matchesboth the keyword and the context. As another example, the media guidanceapplication may transmit (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7))identifiers of the playback point to a device (e.g., any of userequipment described in FIGS. 7-8) that is not generating the media assetfor display (e.g., the user is viewing a media asset on a television andthe identifiers are transmitted to the user's mobile phone).

FIG. 10 is another flowchart of illustrative actions for determiningplayback points in media assets, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure. For example, a media guidance application implementingprocess 1000 may be executed by control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7). Itshould be noted that process 1000 or any step thereof could be performedon, or provided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS. 7-8.

Process 1000 begins at 1002, where the media guidance applicationgenerates (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) for display (e.g.,on display 712 (FIG. 7)) a media asset. For example, the media guidanceapplication may generate (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) fordisplay (e.g., on display 712 (FIG. 7)) the movie, “Edge of Tomorrow” ona display screen (e.g., of a tablet or television). In some embodiments,the media guidance application may generate (e.g., via control circuitry704 (FIG. 7)) a media asset for display in response to receiving a userselection of the media asset via a user input interface (e.g., userinput interface 710 (FIG. 7)).

Process 1000 continues to 1004, where the media guidance applicationreceives (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)), while generatingfor display the media asset, a keyword from a user. For example, themedia guidance application may receive (e.g., via control circuitry 704(FIG. 7)) text, graphics, or a combination that identify at least onecharacteristic of the media asset. The characteristic may be anymetadata relating to the media asset, such as a person associated withthe media asset (e.g., actor, director, producer, etc.) and/or anidentifier of the action (e.g., “car chase,”), and/or an identifier of alocation (e.g., “Paris”). In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may generate (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) fordisplay (e.g., on display 712 (FIG. 7)) a field for text input of thekeyword. For example, using a remote control (e.g., user input interface710 (FIG. 7)), the user may input a string of characters (e.g., “TomCruise”), which the media guidance application may receive (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) as the keyword.

Process 1000 continues to 1006, where the media guidance applicationdetermines (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a current playbackpoint in the media asset. For example, the media guidance applicationmay retrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a time code(e.g., “00:30:00:00”, in the format hours: minutes: seconds: frames)corresponding to the current playback point in the media asset (e.g., 30minutes into the media asset). The media guidance application mayretrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the time code from atime code signal in the media asset containing a set of binary codeddecimal values referring to the present playback position in the mediaasset.

Process 1000 continues to 1008, where the media guidance applicationretrieves (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) metadata associatedwith the current playback point. For example, the media guidanceapplication may retrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7))metadata associated with the current playback point from local storage(e.g., storage 708 (FIG. 7)) or a remote server (e.g., media guidancedata source 818 accessible via communications network 814 (FIG. 8)). Themetadata may be organized in a table or other data structure. Forexample, the media guidance application may retrieve (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a data structure specific to the media assetcurrently being generated for display. The metadata may be organized ina table, where each row of the table relates to a particular playbackpoint or range of playback points and each field in the row contains aparticular value (e.g., a string of characters). The values may be anycharacter or string of characters that describe the current playbackpoint in the media asset. For example, the metadata may be a songcurrently playing in the media asset, a location of a scene in the mediaasset, a general description of the current action (e.g., “car chase”),or an actor appearing at that time in the media asset. The mediaguidance application may compare (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG.7)) the value for the current playback point (e.g., a time code) withvalues in the data structure storing metadata associated with playbackpoints in the media asset, as described further below with respect toFIG. 11. The media guidance application may determine (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)), based on the comparison, a particular field orfields of metadata that relate to the media asset at the currentplayback point. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) that the currentplayback point of 30 minutes into the movie, “Edge of Tomorrow” matchesa stored playback point in the data structure and may retrieve thestring, “Tom Cruise” from an associated field.

Process 1000 continues to 1010, where the media guidance applicationassigns (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a context based onthe retrieved metadata associated with the current playback point. Forexample, the media guidance application may use (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the metadata at the current playback point toassign a context to the keyword that the user has searched for, asdescribed further below with respect to FIG. 12. As a specific example,the media guidance application may assign (e.g., via control circuitry704 (FIG. 7)) the context “car chase” based on the metadata retrievedfrom the data structure.

Process 1000 continues to 1012, where the media guidance applicationcompares (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) both (1) the keywordand (2) the context with a plurality of keywords and contexts associatedwith playback points in the media asset. For example, the media guidanceapplication may search (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) thedata structure containing metadata related to playback points in themedia asset for a playback point that is associated with both anidentifier of the context and an identifier of the keyword. The mediaguidance application may compare (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG.7)) characters of the context and keyword with characters of contextsand keywords stored in fields of the data structure. If both the contextand keyword match values stored in fields for the same playback point,the media guidance application may determine (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) that the playback point is a match, as describedfurther below with respect to FIG. 13.

Process 1000 continues to 1014, where the media guidance applicationdetermines (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)), based on thecomparing, that the keyword and the context correspond to at least oneplayback point in the media asset. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7))that the keyword, “Tom Cruise” and the context “car chase” match valuesat a playback point of 55 minutes in the movie, “Edge of Tomorrow,”based on comparison with metadata in the data structure associated withplayback points in the media asset.

Process 1000 continues to 1014, where the media guidance applicationgenerates (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) for display (e.g.,on display 712 (FIG. 7)) an indication of the at least one playbackpoint. For example, the media guidance application may generate (e.g.,via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) indicators (e.g., tick marks) on aprogress bar indicating the at least one playback point that matchesboth the keyword and the context. As another example, the media guidanceapplication may transmit (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7))identifiers of the playback point to a device (e.g., any of userequipment described in FIGS. 7-8) that is not generating the media assetfor display (e.g., the user is viewing a media asset on a television andthe identifiers are transmitted to the user's mobile phone).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of illustrative actions for determining metadataassociated with a current playback point in a media asset, in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure. For example, a media guidanceapplication implementing process 1100 may be executed by controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7). It should be noted that process 1100 or any stepthereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shownin FIGS. 7-8. Process 1100 starts at 1102, where the media guidanceapplication begins (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a processfor determining metadata associated with a current playback point in amedia asset. For example, the media guidance application may initializethe necessary variables and execute (e.g., via control circuitry 704(FIG. 7)) a program script calling a particular method to executeprocess 1100.

Process 1100 continues to 1104, where the media guidance applicationretrieves (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)), from a time codesignal, a time code corresponding to the current playback point. Forexample, the media guidance application may retrieve (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a time code (e.g., “00:30:00:00”, in the formathours: minutes: seconds: frames) corresponding to the current playbackpoint in the media asset (e.g., 30 minutes into the media asset). Themedia guidance application may retrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 704(FIG. 7)) the time code from a time code signal in the media assetcontaining a set of binary coded decimal values referring to the currentplayback position in the media asset.

Process 1100 continues to 1106, where the media guidance applicationprocesses (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the time code todetermine the current playback point. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7))that a particular signal or header in a data packet contains binarycoded decimal values relating to a time code and retrieve those values.The media guidance application may convert (e.g., via control circuitry704 (FIG. 7)) each binary coded decimal value to a corresponding decimalvalue corresponding to the time code. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7))that four particular bits relating to one value in the time code are“1001” which may correspond to the value “9” in the time code.

Process 1100 continues to 1108, where the media guidance applicationaccesses (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a database ofmetadata associated with playback points in the media asset. Forexample, the media guidance application may access (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a database containing metadata associated withthe current playback point in local storage (e.g., storage 708 (FIG. 7))or at a remote server (e.g., media guidance data source 818 accessiblevia communications network 814 (FIG. 8)). The database may be organizedas a table, where each row of the table relates to a particular playbackpoint or range of playback points for a media asset and each field inthe row contains a particular value (e.g., a string of characters). Thevalues may be any character or string of characters that describe thecurrent playback point in the media asset.

Process 1100 continues to 1110, where the media guidance applicationcompares (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the current playbackpoint to each of a plurality of playback points in the database. Forexample, the media guidance application may compare (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the integer value(s) for the current playbackpoint (e.g., 00 hours, 30 minutes, 30 seconds) with values stored in thedatabase to determine whether the values correspond. As a specificexample, the media guidance application may determine (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) that an entry in the database is for a playbackpoint of 30 minutes and 30 seconds and that, since the current playbackpoint is also 30 minutes and 30 seconds, the playback points match andmetadata associated with the entry applies to the current playbackpoint.

Process 1100 continues to 1112, where the media guidance applicationdetermines (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) whether thecurrent playback point matches one of the plurality of playback pointsin the database. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a match between thecurrent playback point and a stored playback point if every valueassociated with the current playback point exactly matches every valueassociated with a stored playback point. As a specific example, if theplayback point is for 30 minutes and 30 seconds and an entry is for 30minutes and 35 seconds, the media guidance application may determine(e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) that the playback points donot match since 35 does not equal 30. In some embodiments, the databaseincludes a range of playback points (e.g., 30 minutes to 35 minutesrelates to specific metadata). In this situation, the media guidanceapplication may determine (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) amatch if the current playback point falls within the range (e.g., 32minutes is within the 30 to 35 minute range).

If, at 1112, the media guidance application determines that the currentplayback point does match one of the plurality of playback points in thedatabase, process 1100 continues to 1114, where the media guidanceapplication retrieves (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7))metadata from at least one field associated with the matched playbackpoint in the database. For example, upon determining a match, the mediaguidance application may retrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG.7)) data from one or more fields associated with the matched playbackpoint in the database. Specifically, the media guidance application mayexecute (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a database querylanguage script, such as an SQL script, to retrieve data from particularfields containing metadata related to the matched playback point.

If, at 1112, the media guidance application determines that the currentplayback point does not match one of the plurality of playback points inthe database, process 1100 continues to 1116, where the media guidanceapplication determines (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) theclosest playback point in the database to the current playback point. Insome cases, no playback point in the database will exactly match thecurrent playback point. In this situation, the media guidanceapplication may determine (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) theclosest playback point to the current playback point. For example, themedia guidance application may subtract (e.g., via control circuitry 704(FIG. 7)) every playback point stored in the database from the currentplayback point. The media guidance application may determine (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the closest playback point based on theplayback point that has the smallest absolute difference from thecurrent playback point.

Process 1100 continues to 1118, where the media guidance applicationretrieves (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) metadata from atleast one field associated with the closest playback point in thedatabase to the current playback point. For example, upon determiningthe closest playback point, the media guidance application may retrieve(e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) data from one or more fieldsassociated with the closest playback point in the database.Specifically, the media guidance application may execute (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a database query language script, suchas an SQL script, to retrieve data from particular fields containingmetadata related to the closest playback point.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of illustrative actions for assigning a context,in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. For example, amedia guidance application implementing process 1200 may be executed bycontrol circuitry 704 (FIG. 7). It should be noted that process 1200 orany step thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of thedevices shown in FIGS. 7-8. Process 1200 starts at 1202, where the mediaguidance application begins (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) aprocess for assigning a context. For example, the media guidanceapplication may initialize the necessary variables and execute (e.g.,via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a program script calling aparticular method to execute process 1200.

Process 1200 continues to 1204, where the media guidance applicationretrieves (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) metadata associatedwith the current playback point. For example, as described above withrespect to FIGS. 9-11, the media guidance application may retrieve(e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) strings of charactersassociated with the current playback point from a database in localstorage (e.g., storage 708 (FIG. 7)) or at a remote server (e.g., mediaguidance data source 818 accessible via communications network 814 (FIG.8)).

Process 1200 continues to 1206, where the media guidance applicationdetermines (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) whether themetadata indicates a plurality of contexts. For example, the mediaguidance application may determine (e.g., via control circuitry 704(FIG. 7)) whether multiple strings of characters were retrieved from thedatabase (e.g., multiple pieces of metadata are associated with thecurrent playback point).

If, at 1206, the media guidance application determines that the metadatadoes not indicate a plurality of contexts, then process 1200 continuesto 1208, where the media guidance application assigns (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the context based on the retrieved metadata. Forexample, if only one string of characters was retrieved by the mediaguidance application from the database, the media guidance applicationmay assign (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the retrievedstring of characters as the context since it is the only possibility forthe context. As a specific example, if the media guidance applicationonly retrieves (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) “gun fight” asthe metadata associated with the current playback point, then the mediaguidance application may assign “gun fight” as the context.

If, at 1206, the media guidance application determines that the metadatadoes indicate a plurality of contexts, then process 1200 continues to1210, where the media guidance application accesses (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a user profile. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7))that since both “car-chase” and “gun fight” were retrieved for aparticular playback point, there are a plurality of contexts that areassociated with the current playback point and additional data is neededto choose which context to assign. The media guidance application maythen access a user profile, stored locally in storage (e.g., storage 708(FIG. 7)) or remotely (e.g., at media guidance data source 818accessible via communications network 814 (FIG. 8)) to determine whetherthe user has a preference for one or more of the contexts.

Process 1200 continues to 1212, where the media guidance applicationselects (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a previouslyunselected context of the plurality of contexts. For example, the mediaguidance application may execute (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG.7)) an instruction to iteratively retrieve (e.g., by utilizing afor-loop) each identifier of a context retrieved from the database ofmetadata to determine which context matches user preferences in a userprofile.

Process 1200 continues to 1214, where the media guidance applicationdetermines (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) if there is a userpreference for the selected context. For example, the media guidanceapplication may retrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) oneor more context preferences of the user from the user profile andcompare characters of each context from the user profile to charactersof each of the multiple context preferences for the current playbackpoint. The media guidance application may determine (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a match based on a threshold percentage (e.g.,90%) of the characters matching between two contexts.

If, at 1214, the media guidance application determines that there is auser preference for the selected context, process 1200 continues to1216, where the media guidance application stores (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) an indication of the user preference associatedwith the selected context. For example, the media guidance applicationmay determine (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) that the userhas a preference (e.g., based on the user profile) for “gun-fights” andthat one of the plurality of contexts at the current playback point is a“gun-fight.” Accordingly, the media guidance application may, since thecontext “gun-fight” corresponds to a user preference, store (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) an indication that the user has apreference for the context. The indication may be a Boolean (e.g., setto “true”) or may be a numeric value indicating how preferred thecontext is. For example, if every media asset the user has consumedincludes gun fights based on a viewing history, the user may have astronger preference for gun fights than if only some of the media assetsconsumed by the user included gun fights and the media guidanceapplication may assign (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) alarger numeric value for the former case than the latter. Process 1200then proceeds to 1218.

If, at 1214, the media guidance application determines that there is nota user preference for the selected context, process 1200 continues to1218, where the media guidance application determines (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) if every context of the plurality of contextshas been selected. As discussed above with respect to 1212, the mediaguidance application may execute (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG.7)) an instruction to iteratively retrieve (e.g., by utilizing afor-loop) each identifier of a context retrieved from the database ofmetadata. If the loop executed by the media guidance applicationterminates, the media guidance application may determine that everycontext has been retrieved. If, at 1218, the media guidance applicationdetermines that not every context has been selected, process 1200returns to 1212, where the media guidance application selects (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a previously unselected context of theplurality of contexts, as described above.

If, at 1218, the media guidance application determines that everycontext has been selected, process 1200 continues to 1220, where themedia guidance application retrieves (e.g., via control circuitry 704(FIG. 7)), from a server, a value for the popularity of each context ofthe plurality of contexts. For example, the media guidance applicationmay access the server (e.g., media guidance data source 818 (FIG. 8))via a communications network (e.g., communications network 814 (FIG.8)). The media guidance application may compare (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) characters of each of the plurality of contextswith characters of strings corresponding to contexts in the datastructure. Upon determining a match, the media guidance application mayretrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)), from an associatedfield, a popularity value. The popularity value may be a ranking (e.g.,3^(rd) most popular based on searches in the past month), number (e.g.,the number of times the particular context has been searched/requestedover a period of time), or any other numeric value that allows twocontexts to be differentiated as more or less popular.

Process 1200 continues to 1222, where the media guidance applicationranks (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the plurality ofcontexts based on both stored indications of user preferences and thevalue for popularity of each context. For example, the media guidanceapplication may assign (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) ascore to each context based on the stored indications of whether theuser has a preference for the context and the popularity value for thecontext. The media guidance application may then sort (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the scores to determine a ranking for theplurality of contexts, using a sorting algorithm such as a bubble sort.

Process 1200 continues to 1224, where the media guidance applicationassigns (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the highest rankedcontext as the context. For example, the media guidance application mayretrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) an identifier of thehighest ranked context to assign as the context. As a specific example,the media guidance application may retrieve (e.g., via control circuitry704 (FIG. 7)) that “gun fight” has the highest ranking and thus assigns“gun fight” as the context.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of illustrative actions for determining playbackpoints in a media asset matching a keyword and a context, in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure. For example, a media guidanceapplication implementing process 1300 may be executed by controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7). It should be noted that process 1300 or any stepthereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shownin FIGS. 7-8. Process 1300 starts at 1302, where the media guidanceapplication begins (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a processfor determining playback points in a media asset matching a keyword anda context. For example, the media guidance application may initializethe necessary variables and execute (e.g., via control circuitry 704(FIG. 7)) a program script calling a particular method to executeprocess 1300.

Process 1300 continues to 1304, where the media guidance applicationaccesses (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a databasecontaining metadata associated with playback points in the media asset.For example, the media guidance application may access (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the database containing metadata relatedto playback points in the media asset in local storage (e.g., storage708 (FIG. 7)) or at a remote server (e.g., media guidance data source818 accessible via communications network 814 (FIG. 8)).

Process 1300 continues to 1306, where the media guidance applicationretrieves (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) an entry from thedatabase associated with a playback point in the media asset. Forexample, the media guidance application may execute (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) an instruction to iteratively retrieve (e.g., byutilizing a for-loop) each entry in the database of metadata todetermine which entries correspond to playback points that match boththe context and the keyword.

Process 1300 continues to 1308, where the media guidance applicationdetermines (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) if the keywordmatches any metadata associated with the entry. For example, the mediaguidance application may compare (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG.7)) characters of the keyword (e.g., “Tom Cruise”) with charactersretrieved from fields of the selected entry. If a threshold amount ofthe characters match between a given field of the entry and the keyword,then the media guidance application may determine (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a match.

If, at 1308, the media guidance application determines that the keyworddoes not match metadata associated with the entry, then process 1300continues to 1310, where the media guidance application determines(e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) whether every entry has beenretrieved from the database. As discussed above with respect to 1306,the media guidance application may execute (e.g., via control circuitry704 (FIG. 7)) an instruction to iteratively retrieve (e.g., by utilizinga for-loop) each entry in the database of metadata to determine whichentries correspond to playback points that match both the context andthe keyword. If the loop executed by the media guidance applicationterminates, the media guidance application may determine (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) that every entry has been retrieved. Ifthe loop has not terminated, the media guidance application may returnto 1306 and retrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) anotherentry that has previously not been retrieved from the database.

If, at 1310, the media guidance application determines that every entryhas been retrieved from the database, process 1300 continues to 1316,where the media guidance application determines (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)), based on the stored indications, one or moreplayback points that match the keyword and the context. For example, foreach entry that matches both the keyword and context, the media guidanceapplication may store (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) anindication of the playback point. The media guidance application mayreturn (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) the one or moreplayback points that match the keyword and context once every entry hasbeen retrieved, such that the playback points may be generated fordisplay, as described above in FIGS. 2, 4, and 9-10.

If, at 1308, the media guidance application determines that the keyworddoes match metadata associated with the entry, then process 1300continues to 1312, where the media guidance application determines(e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) if the context matches any ofthe metadata associated with the entry. For example, the media guidanceapplication may compare (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7))characters of the context (e.g., “gun fight”) with characters retrievedfrom fields of the selected entry. If a threshold amount of thecharacters match between a given field of the entry and the context,then the media guidance application may determine (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) a match.

If, at 1312, the media guidance application determines that the contextmatches the metadata associated with the entry, process 1300 continuesto 1314, where the media guidance application stores (e.g., via controlcircuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) an indication that the playback point associatedwith the selected entry is a match. For example, the media guidanceapplication may store (e.g., via control circuitry 704 (FIG. 7)) anindication in a list, array, or other data structure of each playbackpoint that matches both the keyword and the context. Process 1300 thenreturns to 1310, described above. If, at 1312, the media guidanceapplication determines that the context does not match the metadataassociated with the entry, process 1300 continues to 1310, where themedia guidance application determines (e.g., via control circuitry 704(FIG. 7)) whether every entry has been retrieved from the database, asdescribed above.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of each of FIGS. 9-13may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition,the steps and descriptions described in relation to FIGS. 9-13 may bedone in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes ofthis disclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed inany order or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lagor increase the speed of the system or method. Furthermore, it should benoted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS. 7-8 could be used to perform one or more of the steps in FIGS.9-13.

While some portions of this disclosure may make reference to“convention,” any such reference is merely for the purpose of providingcontext to the invention(s) of the instant disclosure, and does not formany admission as to what constitutes the state of the art.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of theprocesses discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/orrearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure ismeant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow aremeant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes.Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitationsdescribed in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodimentherein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may becombined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done indifferent orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems andmethods described herein may be performed in real time. It should alsobe noted that the systems and/or methods described above may be appliedto, or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

1.-51. (canceled)
 52. A method comprising: receiving, while generating amedia asset for display, a keyword from a user; in response to receivingthe keyword: retrieving metadata associated with a current playbackpoint in the media asset; in response to determining that a firstcontext and a second context is assigned based on the retrievedmetadata: searching the user's viewing history to determine whetherquantity of media assets consumed by the user that are associated withthe first context exceed the quantity of media assets consumed by theuser that are associated with the second context; and in response todetermining that the quantity of media assets consumed by the user thatare associated with the first context exceed the quantity of mediaassets consumed by the user that are associated with the second context:determining at least one playback point in the media asset based on thefirst context; and generating for display an indication of the at leastone playback point associated with the first context.
 53. The method ofclaim 52, wherein, in response to determining that the quantity of mediaassets consumed by the user that are associated with the second contextexceeds the quantity of media assets consumed by the user that areassociated with the first context: determining at least one playbackpoint in the media asset based on the second context; and generating fordisplay an indication of the at least one playback point associated withthe second context. in response to determining that a first context anda second context is assigned based on the retrieved metadata:
 54. Themethod of claim 52, further comprising: determining a popularity valueof the first context and the second context; and determining the leastone playback point in the media asset based on the higher popularityvalue between the first and the second context.
 55. The method of claim54, wherein, the popularity value is determined over a predeterminedperiod of time.
 56. The method of claim 55, wherein, the popularityvalue is determined based on a number of searches conducted over thepredetermined period of time.
 57. The method of claim 52, furthercomprising: determining that a plurality of playback points associatedwith first context are available; and in response to determining thatthe plurality of playback points associated with first context areavailable: generating for display a plurality of indications that areassociated with the plurality of playback points.
 58. The method ofclaim 57, further comprising: determining whether the plurality ofindications exceed a threshold number to display on a first deviceassociated with the user; and in response to determining that theplurality of indications exceed the threshold number to display on afirst device: transmitting data associated with one or more of theplurality of indications to a second device associated with the user.59. The method of claim 57, wherein, the plurality of indications areselectable jump indications that allow a user to jump from one playbackpoint to another playback point associated with the plurality ofindications.
 60. The method of claim 52, wherein, the indicationgenerated for the at least one playback point is either a textual or agraphical indication.
 61. The method of claim 52, wherein, the displayof the indication of the at least one playback point is displayed as anoverlay on the media asset.
 62. A system comprising: user inputcircuitry; and control circuitry configured to: receive, whilegenerating a media asset for display, a keyword from a user; in responseto receiving the keyword: retrieve metadata associated with a currentplayback point in the media asset; in response to determining that afirst context and a second context is assigned based on the retrievedmetadata: search the user's viewing history to determine whetherquantity of media assets consumed by the user that are associated withthe first context exceed the quantity of media assets consumed by theuser that are associated with the second context; and in response todetermining that the quantity of media assets consumed by the user thatare associated with the first context exceed the quantity of mediaassets consumed by the user that are associated with the second context:determine at least one playback point in the media asset based on thefirst context; and generate for display an indication of the at leastone playback point associated with the first context.
 63. The system ofclaim 62, wherein, in response to determining that the quantity of mediaassets consumed by the user that are associated with the second contextexceeds the quantity of media assets consumed by the user that areassociated with the first context, the control circuitry configured to:determine at least one playback point in the media asset based on thesecond context; and generate for display an indication of the at leastone playback point associated with the second context. in response todetermining that a first context and a second context is assigned basedon the retrieved metadata:
 64. The system of claim 62, furthercomprising, the control circuitry configured to: determine a popularityvalue of the first context and the second context; and determine theleast one playback point in the media asset based on the higherpopularity value between the first and the second context.
 65. Thesystem of claim 64, wherein, the popularity value is determined by thecontrol circuitry over a predetermined period of time.
 66. The system ofclaim 65, wherein, the popularity value is determined by the controlcircuitry based on a number of searches conducted over the predeterminedperiod of time.
 67. The system of claim 62, further comprising, thecontrol circuitry configured to: determine that a plurality of playbackpoints associated with first context are available; and in response todetermining that the plurality of playback points associated with firstcontext are available: generate for display a plurality of indicationsthat are associated with the plurality of playback points.
 68. Thesystem of claim 67, further comprising, the control circuitry configuredto: determine whether the plurality of indications exceed a thresholdnumber to display on a first device associated with the user; and inresponse to determining that the plurality of indications exceed thethreshold number to display on a first device: transmit data associatedwith one or more of the plurality of indications to a second deviceassociated with the user.
 69. The system of claim 67, wherein, theplurality of indications are selectable jump indications that allow auser to jump from one playback point to another playback pointassociated with the plurality of indications.
 70. The system of claim62, wherein, the indication generated for the at least one playbackpoint is either a textual or a graphical indication.
 71. The system ofclaim 62, wherein, the display of the indication of the at least oneplayback point is displayed by the control circuitry as an overlay onthe media asset.